Partner Kyle P. Carroll and Associate Sukayna Jaidi recently secured a win for their Client on appeal!
This matter stemmed from a monthly rental contract Plaintiff entered with our client in November 2019 for a storage unit. When a Los Angeles city ordinance went into effect in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that placed a moratorium on evictions, Plaintiff stopped paying rent in August 2020 and was in arrears for back rent. Plaintiff filed suit in 2022, alleging (1) sexual harassment under the Unruh Act (Civ. Code, §51), (2) sex discrimination under the Unruh Act (ibid.), (3) gender violence (id., § 52.4), (4) breach of contract, (5) negligence, (6) conversion, (7) civil conspiracy, and (8) intentional infliction of emotional distress. We attacked the Complaint, filing a Demurrer. After a contentious oral argument, the Court sustained the Demurrer and dismissed the operative complaint in May 2023.
Three days after the May 2023 dismissal, Plaintiff again filed suit, alleging the same eight claims as in the prior lawsuit, but adding additional language relating to new claims. Plaintiff sought compensatory and punitive damages as well as declaratory and injunctive relief. Again, we aggressively responded, filing the necessary Demurrer and attacking the allegations through res judicata. The Court again sustained our Demurrer, and again the matter was dismissed. Plaintiff appealed the ruling.
On appeal, Appellant’s chief argument was that the trial court erred in dismissing his new complaint with prejudice. We appropriately responded to this Appeal, leaning on our prior arguments, and advising that there was no error, and that the trial court acted within its discretion in dismissing the new Complaint. The Court of Appeal rejected all of the arguments made by Claimant and affirmed the ruling of the trial court. This was a huge win for our client after multiple cases, significant law and motion, and appeal.